Take It From the Top Top Companies From Our 2000 Franchise 500 Listing

Lately, our society has become obsessed with lists: the bestrock videos of all time, the best cities to live in, the beststocks of the past decade. Well, as a 21-year veteran of"best" lists, we've done these listers onebetter.

Following is our list of the "best of the best"franchises. For those of you not content with our annual Franchise500® listing, which ranks almost 700 franchises in ourcountdown to the No.1 franchise, we've skimmed the top of 13categories. The result? The best of the best in industries rangingfrom automotive to children's products, from computers totraining services. Turn the page, and you'll see McDonald's(our top franchise of 2000) doesn't have a corner on everymarket, even if it has a market on practically every corner.

Of course, if anyone wanted to rank franchise listings, we'dprobably, of course, boast the best. Entrepreneur'sFranchise 500® survey is not only the original, but also theworld's most comprehensive listing of franchise companies.Still, even the best ranking and the best franchises won't addup to the best investment for you if you fail to do your duediligence. The following list is not intended to endorse anyparticular franchise, but should instead serve as a starting pointin your independent research. Only after analyzing a company'sliterature, visiting existing franchisees and consulting with anattorney and accountant will you be able to make the very bestdecision for your future.

For the complete Franchise 500® listing, see the Januaryissue of Entrepreneur or visit www.entrepreneur.com.